Ain’t No Excuse on God’s Green Earth: Kentucky Parents and Granny Accused in Brutal Abuse of Two Babies

If this story don’t make your jaw clench and your fists ball up, you might wanna check your pulse.

Police in Louisville, Kentucky say two babies — one just 1 year old and the other 2 years old — were put through absolute hell by the very people who were supposed to protect them.

According to court records, the nightmare came to light on January 15, 2026, when the 2-year-old child was finally brought to the hospital. Not by ambulance. Not by a panicked 911 call. Nope. By private transport — and the child arrived in full cardiac arrest.

Doctors at Norton Children’s Hospital reportedly found injuries that no child should ever have to endure:
a fractured skull, missing teeth, healing rib fractures, deep bruises, severe anemia from blood loss, and internal injuries affecting major organs like the liver and pancreas. This wasn’t one bad day. This was repeated, long-term abuse.

When police went to the home, it got even worse.

Inside, they found the 1-year-old sibling lying on a bed, showing clear signs of trauma. That baby was rushed to the hospital and found to have multiple possible skull fractures, a possible broken jaw, liver injury, cuts above both eyes, missing teeth, severe internal bleeding, and signs of extreme malnourishment.

Let that sink in. A baby. Starving. Bleeding. Broken.

The parents, Nicholas Shanks, 27, and Shelby Kuntz, 25, were arrested and hit with a mountain of serious charges, including first-degree assault, criminal abuse of a child under 12, wanton endangerment, and endangering the welfare of a minor. Their bonds were set at $500,000 each.

And here’s where the anger really starts to boil.

Police say the children’s paternal grandmother, Yvonne Shanks, 49, admitted she had seen injuries on the younger child that very morning — and still didn’t call police. Still didn’t seek medical help. She’s now charged with complicity and is sitting on a $250,000 bond.

All three have pleaded not guilty.

Louisville Metro Police Chief Paul Humphrey didn’t mince words, calling this case “the lowest of the low” and saying there’s “a special place in hell” for people who do this to children.

And honestly? A pissed-off hillbilly would say he’s being polite.

This ain’t discipline. This ain’t a “parenting choice.” This is cruelty. This is failure. This is the kind of evil that don’t belong in any holler, city, trailer, or mansion in America.

Those babies didn’t have a voice. Now the whole country hears it.

And we ain’t forgetting.